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How does one clean a soiled tallit?


By Chana Weisberg

Question:

How does one clean a soiled tallit? It is made of wool and is quite old, and has never been cleaned.

Answer:

A wool tallit needs to be hand-washed with a delicate soap, like Woolite, which is especially designed for delicate, wool garments. Soak it for several hours or overnight and then hand wash. If necessary, repeat more than once.

A tallit can also be dry cleaned. However, it might not be advisable to give a tallit to your local dry leaning establishment—as the ones not familiar with tallitot (i.e. most cleaners that are not situated in areas with orthodox Jewish populations) don't always know how to handle them and can cause damage.
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By Chana Weisberg   More articles...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author
Chana Weisberg is the Director of Editorial Management at hC Chabad.org. Her latest books include Tending the Garden: The Unique Gifts of the Jewish Woman and the best selling Divine Whispers on finding spirituality in daily life. She has served as the Dean of several women's educational institutes and lectures internationally on issues relating to women, faith, relationships and the Jewish soul.

The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
 

13 Comments Posted  |  Post A Comment
Reader Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: Oct 1, 2011
Tallit repair
My wool tallit has a number of small moth holes. Can it be repaired and will it be kosher?
Posted By Anonymous, minneapolis, mn

Posted: Feb 3, 2011
What happened to my tallit?
Thanks to G-d I have purchased a new tallit and I have also found a Jewish cleaners that doesn't ruin it. I still have the old on and I may take you up on the idea of cutting the "dreadlocks" off the old one. Thank you for your comments
Posted By Celeste, Philadelphia, PA

Posted: Feb 1, 2011
fringe ends
I found out that after washing my wool tallit in the sink (letting it soak a bit then pressing the bubbles through the layers and making suds, that the "feathers" don't look like feathers anymore but dreadlocks or octopus legs... so I cut em off except for a small knob at the end...hope this doesn't de-kosher it - actually its not bad looking it cleans the look up - would this happen at a dry cleaners?
Posted By marcos bernal, Richmond, va

Posted: Mar 11, 2010
Consecrated women
How does one embrace an inclination by to wear a tallit all the time? Are there tallits that are more durable than others? Is there a color that will stand the use more than the white one which I own? Is there a regulation about how many you can own?
Posted By Celeste, Philadelphia,, PA

Posted: Mar 9, 2010
cleaning tallit
I own several tallits, some made with wool and also a couple made with acrylic blend.
I have hand washed them all in woolite with cold water.
They all come out fine when steam ironed after drying.
I have no confidence in the dry cleaners where I live. I'd hate to spend $$$ with them and have the tallit ruined after.
None of them look any worse for wear when using woolite, and they have all held up nicely.
Posted By praisingann, albuquerque, nm

Posted: Oct 12, 2009
RE: cleaning tallit/tzitzit
According to my online research, you can wash tekhelet made from the murex, and you can even use bleach. However, it seems that the cuttlefish tekhelet is not quite as fast. Which one do you have?
Posted By Menachem Posner for Chabad.org

Posted: Oct 11, 2009
cleaning tallit/tzitzit
My tallit is wool with the blue thread in the tzitzit. I am concerned that if I soak it in Woolite, the dye might bleed from the tzitzit. Is the blue dye colorfast?
Posted By Anonymous, Winston-Salem, NC

Posted: Oct 19, 2008
trying to help
check with your rabbi
Posted By Mendel

Posted: Oct 18, 2008
What happened to my talit?
I had it dry cleaned and the fringe is fuzzy and it doesn't look good. Is there any way to fix it?
Posted By Celeste

Posted: Oct 26, 2007
Dry cleaning a tallit
I took my tallit to the dry cleaner and he charged me $100!

I asked, "Why so much?"

He answered, "Ten dollars for the cleaning and ninety dollars to take out all the knots!"
Posted By Wiser Now



 


Handbook
The Fringes and Garment
Wearing a Tallit for an Aliyah
Miscellaneous Tzitzit Laws and Customs
How does one clean a soiled tallit?
Why Wear Tzitzit If We Are Not Obligated?
Is My Tallit Allowed in the Bathroom?
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